So, I've joined the world of Twitter

It's happened, I have succumbed and entered the word of twitter.
I never really understood the concept of it, and facebook had been satisfying my social networking needs since I left school, therefore I had no desire for Twitter. I have come to realised that in this day and age, Twitter is a journalists best friend and I am an aspiring journalist. It's something I have known for a while but it has taken until now to allow myself to give in to Twitter. Besides, it is pretty cool that you can keep track of what celebrities are up to. Within half an hour of signing up, I was already following over 60 people, I was hooked pretty quite to tell you the truth.

I do wonder however, where did Twitter come from? One minute everyone is all over facebook and the next it's all about tweeting. Social networking is a fast paced and quick to change little world though isn't it. We have seen this before, when everyone went from MySpace to Bebo and then on to facebook. Personally MySpace never appealed but through secondary school I was one of millions obsessed with Bebo and it's comments, photo sharing and the little cyber world that it creates away from the real world. I do think social networking is excellent but doesn't it distract young people away from the real world a little bit?

This is where I become incredibly hypocritical but if you could just forget that I have a obsession with facebook and a developing obsession with twitter, I would be most grateful. Social networking distracts people from the real world, instead of phoning someone or meeting someone to catch ip we think that a brief chat on facebook or a couple of comments here and there will do the job. Maybe it does in this day and age but when our parents were younger social networking was done in person not through a computer screen. Having an online profile in theory can allow you to make yourself who ever you want to be, it's almost like recreating yourself, through just a few lines of text you can tell the world what you want them to think of you. Doesn't sound like a negative point but surely you want someone to get to know you as a person, not your facebook profile?

All this being said, in the 21st century social networking sites have in actual fact become a link to the rest of the world. Facebook and twitter don't just reach out to young people wanting to keep in touch with friends but to businesses, shops, newspapers and magazine and celebrities. They entertain and inform you. Twitter in particular has updates from magazines and newspapers continuously, bringing you the latest headlines, breaking news, competitions and gossip. It's all there with just a click of a button, and when you've read your magazine from cover to cover but you want more Twitters there waiting for you.

Yes, I think social networking sites have their negatives but the world is changing and young people adapt easily to these changes and for the media and journalism they can only be benefits.